Completely agree about the strength of ep 1 vs 2 and 3. I like the cast, but the writing is annoying - Sherlock Holmes is not a sociopath. That's House, who is completely not an adaptation of the character, but a series of in-jokes on top of a soap opera.

Actually, I believe Sherlock Holmes would be considered a sociopath to a certain degree because he is rather self centered and uses/manipulates people to get what he wants and to get done what he think is important having little reguard for how it may affect others. I personally think the writers did an excelent job of going back to the books, to the essence and recreating it in our modern era. I speak as someone who has read most of the books. and watched many of the adaptations.